​The Seventh Earl of Aylesford

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Marker Text: ​ Joseph Heneage Finch (b.1849), an English nobleman. Left his ancestral home in 1883 after a scandalous divorce. Attracted by cheap land and good hunting, the Earl of Aylesford came to Texas and settled on six sections in Howard County. His generosity and tales of hunts with the Princes of Wales intrigued local cowboys. A lavish host, he bought free drinks for friends. When his hunting lodge burned, he purchased the Cosmopolitan Hotel, located at this site. He died here in 1885 and was buried on his English estate, Packington Hall. (1980) 

Marker No: 14107

Aluminum 18 x 28 Subject Marker

Geographic: N 32° 15.173 W 101° 28.557

Location: 119 Main Street, Big Spring